


Treasure You

by agentsimmons



Category: Disney Fairies, Tinker Bell (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-25
Updated: 2014-04-25
Packaged: 2018-01-18 11:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1427518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentsimmons/pseuds/agentsimmons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some treasures are forbidden and some warnings should not be ignored.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Treasure You

The day had not started out differently than any other day aboard ship. Which for the band of pirates with nothing in particular to plunder or pillage at the moment usually entailed finding ways to entertain themselves while the captain and her right hand man worked on the plan that would change their current plight. Many weeks of this had actually been spent getting to know one another and learning how to effectively work together, seeing as she wasn't a normal captain, but a fairy the crew had asked to lead them once they learned of her quest to create a new pixie dust tree. 

Zarina, the fairy turned pirate captain, had no reason to believe their intentions dishonorable regardless of what she'd always heard of pirates. They had, after all, taken her in and James, her right hand man, had become the close friend she had missed upon leaving her home in Pixie Hollow. He took time to get to know her. He learned her interests, her disinterests, what made her tick. He encouraged her and believed in her ability. He was sweet, charismatic, slightly oafish, attractive, delightful to be around...

Zarina's thoughts trailed as she tried to shake them. It wasn't the first time her mind had wandered down paths that were completely illogical. James was her friend. And he was a _human_. The laws of nature, even when ruled by magic, surely had their limitations. She worried over the possibility that she was falling in love with James when it could only end in her having her heart broken by the impossibility of it. 

There was a familiar, soft knock on her cabin door, followed by James' voice asking for her permission to enter. Zarina smiled in spite of herself and gave a quick jingle of an answer. The door opened and he entered, shutting it behind him as he always did.

"Everything's ship shape on the ship, Captain," he said with a friendly smile as he came over to sit down in his usual spot. "So, what's on the schedule today? What does the lovely Captain have planned for us to discuss?" She didn't answer. Her thoughts were still somewhere miles away, she wasn't even sure where. "Is something the matter, Captain?" His voice grew thick with concern that matched the expression etched on his face.

She looked at him with a dead stare for a brief moment before shaking her head slightly. "It's nothing, but thank you, James," she responded politely, knowing he could understand her words. "I'm probably just a little tired from...well, just tired," she decided against any solid reason. 

James bit his lip and furrowed his brow before tapping on his chin thoughtfully a few times. He seemed hesitant about something, but before she could ponder what it might be, his expression changed to one of at-ease determination. "My dear, Captain, if I may be so bold, I suggest you take a holiday. You've been working away at your plan and doing so much to teach me, I might add, that it seems only proper for you to-to rest." He leaned in closer toward the table she stood on. He carefully placed his index and middle fingers along the backside of her right shoulder and arm. "You're no good to us if you wear yourself out, after all," he said almost tenderly, but with a hint of something else in his voice that Zarina assumed was his fear of overstepping his place.

"I guess I could use a break," Zarina gave a relenting nod as she reached her opposite hand across to pat his finger gratefully. However, as she did, he moved his hand so that she gripped his index finger just in front of her. Their eyes locked and both smiled, perhaps unknowingly. 

James moved his hand again, this time so that it was outstretched in front of her as if beckoning her to climb upon it. It was nothing out of the ordinary. She'd often reserved her use of pixie dust by doing so or by sitting upon his shoulder or other similar means of transport. Yet, this time it was different. There was no need for it, only a clear desire in his eyes for her to trust him. And Zarina did. She mounted his hand and planted her feet firmly as he gently lifted her nearer to eye level, although he still had the advantage of looking downward. 

"Dear Captain..." he began with a low tremble to his voice. "That _is_ what you are after all," he added, coughing to clear his throat or else hide his embarrassment or perhaps both, it was no longer certain which. "You are...very dear to us, Cap..."

"Zarina," she interrupted him with a confident reproach. 

James gave a half smile in return. "That is, you are very dear to us, _Zarina_ ," he corrected himself and the pixie felt what little resolve she had left shattering to pieces. "N-not, not only to us, but...that is to say...especially to...well, to me," he finally spit it out, his confession joined by a nervous, soft laugh. He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand and looked away.

As for Zarina, she could only stumble back a little in a dumbfounded state of fear and ecstasy. She felt his fingers curl upward slightly as a reaction to steady her if need be. "Oh, James, you're talking nonsense," if her voice was condescending, it was only due to her own disbelief. He couldn't possibly mean what she wanted him to mean. It defied logic. 

James shut his eyes, his face solemn and his breath pulled in deep before being released in a great sigh. "It _is_ nonsense," he looked at her as he said it. He then lowered his hand back down to the table so that she could get off again. Stubbornly, Zarina only moved to sit down upon her knees in his hand instead as he cocked his head and furrowed his brow. At last, this look changed and he resigned with a pathetic chortle and quick shake of his head. "As far back as I can remember, I've heard it said that sailors lust for mermaids and pirates find their ruin in fairies. It never quite made sense to me then. Why should pirates and fairies have anything to do with the other? Aren't pirates just as apt to meet a mermaid as a sailor if they're on the sea?" 

Zarina hung her head for a brief moment, a flash of guilt crossed her face. "Fairies also have their warnings about pirates. We are told all our lives to avoid them. They are dangerous. We are told that fairies find their ruin in pirates," she looked up at him with an expression he couldn't read.

"Then there must be truth in it," James reasoned and for a moment a feeling stirred within Zarina, like a long-forgotten warning she would be wise to heed. "But perhaps the real ruin in the warning is what will become of a pirate and fairy if they keep company." His words stirred another feeling within Zarina, shutting the previous one out. "Is it...is it possible," he began cautiously. "Could the ruin come from losing one's heart?" There was silence for a long moment, the air thick around them as if the ship had sunk and they were close to drowning. "There I go, talking nonsense again," James quietly chastised himself. 

"Is it nonsense?" Zarina heard herself ask the question she meant to keep to herself and like a flash of lightning against a darkened sky, James' face was lit up by determination. 

"No, maybe it isn't," he said firmly. "If treasuring you is to be my ruin, then I can't think of a better ruin in this world or any other."

Zarina's eyes widened. "You... _treasure me_?" Her heart was suddenly filled with a warm glow. It was something she had not felt for a long time. More than needed, she felt wanted and years of being misunderstood seemed to roll away behind her with the sea. 

"Perhaps it is madness, but, yes, I do treasure you," his voice was rich with conviction. "More deeply than I can begin to comprehend actually," he added with far less conviction, a tone that nearly teetered toward hesitance, but Zarina was too stunned to hear it or wonder at his uncertainty. She could not respond either, her breathing too shallow and heart pounding too fast for her to form words quickly enough to keep in time with her thoughts. "Have I gone and scared you off then?" James either misread her silence or else asked out of his own selfish curiosity.

"No," she focused herself to answer. "It's not that. It's just, it's impossible. For us to ever..." she didn't finish.

"Well, yes," he agreed, his face scrunching ever so slightly for a moment. "But then again, isn't Neverland itself impossible?" He asked with renewed vigor. "You speak of a tree that could give our ship the means to fly which seems impossible. Why, I once thought fairies were impossible."

Zarina gasped hard at his words and fell forward in his hand involuntarily. "James," she braced herself against his palm with her own.

"Oh, dear, Zarina, I-I," he brought her quickly back up toward his face. "I do believe in fairies, of course I do. I'm quite sorry I mentioned it."

"It's alright," the pirate fairy smiled faintly as she caught her breath. "I'm fine."

"Blast my blathering tongue," he cursed himself regardless of her mercy.

"Dear, sweet, James," she sighed contentedly and sitting back upright, reached for his thumb to help her stand again. He obliged her request, but once she was on her feet, she didn't release his thumb. Instead, she boldly clung to it all the more tightly and then placed a soft kiss upon it, briefly wondering if he could even feel her small lips against his weathered skin. "Because that _is_ what you are after all," she echoed his previous sentiment as she looked at him, noting his surprised expression. "That is, you're very sweet to me, but you are all the more _very_ dear."

"Do...do you mean that?" James asked and she gave him an incredulous smirk as if to berate him for questioning her. "Right, of course. If anyone here is a pirate of their word, it's you," he flattered and she jingled her thanks. "Now the question is," he reached the index finger of his other hand between them and carefully placed it beneath her chin, "what are we to do about this impossible predicament?"

"Well, I _am_ pretty resourceful," Zarina gave a playful smile as her eyebrows arched. "I'm sure we'll think of something."

 

_Could the ruin come from losing one's heart?_

James' words echoed deafeningly in his ears as he laid in his cot. His skin crawled and his stomach lurched as he recalled the afternoon spent pretending to care for Zarina as more than a friend. Suddenly, he felt his new scheme an unnecessary step too far. He already had her trust and although he strongly believed a female thrown off by romantic notions much more pliable, he was no longer certain it was a good idea in this case. Even if he tried to harden his pirate heart against it, a taunting notion remained within the recesses of his mind, one that warned him of the dangerous game he had begun. It warned him of the impossible; he treasured her more than he cared to admit. 

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure what this is. I watched The Pirate Fairy recently and fell in love with Zarina/Hook as a pairing as weird as that sounds. So I opened up a document and started typing away until I ended up with this...I call it a hot mess, but mileage may vary. Not sure if I'm going to keep this a oneshot or eventually use it as the intro for another longer story idea I have or a series of vignettes (another idea of mine). I guess time will tell.


End file.
